Plantsoen van Budapest, Utrecht

At the edge of Utrecht's new-build district Leidsche Rijn Centrum lies the park ‘Plantsoen van Boedapest’. The area is dominated by new social housing, schools, shops and city facilities such as a cinema. The entire planning area looks spacious despite the intensive and dense buildings. This is partly due to the historical farm in the middle of the area and its green embedding. The water and the nearby sports fields also contribute to this spatial experience. Furthermore, the design is characterised by a number of wide green axes that in turn connect to other small parks in the area.

The most striking feature of the Plantsoen van Boedapest is an elongated, carefully detailed building consisting of arches. From a distance, it looks like a railway bridge but those who look more closely discover that the arches feature glass facades, behind which all kinds of creative enterprises are located. The tactful placement of this complex was done to imperceptibly bridge the difference in height in the new housing estate Leidsche Rijn Centrum. The whole complex features beautiful balustrades and a central batch of stairs that, interspersed with the greenery, invites one to walk around and discover the place.

The impressive green wall is a planting of Tilia cordata 'Greenspire', placed at the edge of the garden. This planting could also be thought of as a roof garden, given that this section is above the building's gallery, and intertwined with the park. To create sufficient growing space for the tree roots on this roof, the structural beams of the building were created on top of the roof. This created a significant space gain. Due to proper preparation of the root system of the trees, it was possible to create the envisaged green closed image reasonably quickly, despite the limited root volume.

Despite being in the middle of a busy residential area, the park looks spacious and green. This is largely due to the clear lines in the design and the perfectly balanced choice of plants. The most striking green feature is the double row of lime trees that create a huge natural wall.